Review: One Was Lost by Natalie D. Richards

One Was Lost by Natalie D. Richards

Damaged. Deceptive. Dangerous. Darling. Are they labels or a warning? The answer could cost Sera everything.

Murder, justice, and revenge were so not a part of the plan when Sera set out on her senior camping trip. After all, hiking through the woods is supposed to be safe and uneventful.

Then one morning the group wakes up groggy, confused, and with words scrawled on their wrists: Damaged. Deceptive. Dangerous. Darling. Their supplies? Destroyed. Half their group? Gone. Their chaperone? Unconscious. Worst of all, they find four dolls acting out a murder—dolls dressed just like them.

Suddenly it's clear; they're being hunted. And with the only positive word on her wrist, Sera falls under suspicion…

Pages: 308

Format: Audiobook

Published By: Sourcebooks Fire/Tantor Audio
Narrator: Vanessa Johansson

Genre: YA - Mystery

Rating:
✮✮✮✮

Review:
One Was Lost is a novel about four teenagers who are on a senior camping trip in the Appalachian Mountains, when something deadly starts to happen, and they have to figure out why they were chosen, who is doing it, and will they be able to survive it. This was an amazing audiobook to listen to at night, and came closest to scaring me (which I think was due to the fact that I listened to it at night).

Sera, Lucas, Jude, and Emily are the four featured characters, although there are initially three other characters who get separated from them, and their teacher who is unconscious for almost the entire book. I wasn't really a fan of how that was handled and I didn't completely see the point, although there is a reason in the book - I just found it unnecessary. There is also a romantic aspect to the story between Sera and Lucas, and I am torn about how I feel regarding this. I like romances in YA suspense/mystery books and feel like it could have worked, but it didn't. I just didn't feel the chemistry between the characters.

One of the big things I hated in this book, without giving away anything, is how small the forest felt. No matter how many days or how far the characters walked, it felt like they were in the same place because of some things that were happened that I just felt would be very unlikely, almost nearly impossible.

I was satisfied with the ending, and I did figure out who was doing the "hunting" early on and which slightly ruined the ending for me. I still really enjoyed reading this book, and I do look forward to reading more books by Natalie D. Richards.

Review: Fire with Fire (Burn for Burn #2) by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

Fire with Fire by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

Secrets prove deadly in book two of the Burn for Burn trilogy from New York Times bestselling author of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (soon to be a major motion picture!), Jenny Han, and New York Times bestselling author of The List, Siobhan Vivian.

Lillia, Kat, and Mary had the perfect plan. Work together in secret to take down the people who wronged them. But things didn’t exactly go the way they’d hoped at the Homecoming Dance.

Not even close.

For now, it looks like they got away with it. All they have to do is move on and pick up the pieces, forget there was ever a pact.

But there is something seriously wrong with sweet, little Mary. If she can’t control her anger, she’s sure someone will get hurt. Mary understands now that it’s not just that Reeve bullied her—it’s that he made her love him.

It seems once a fire is lit, the only thing you can do is let it burn…

Pages: 517

Format: Audiobook

Published By: Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers/Simon Schuster Audio
Narrators: Joy Osmanski, Madeleine Maby, and Rebekkah Ross
Genre: YA - Contemporary, Romance

Series: Burn for Burn

Rating:
✮✮✮✮

Review:
Fire with Fire picks up right after Burn for Burn ends, with the three girls still plotting revenge on the people who have wronged them. One thing that I had been hoping would happen in this book was that it would get better - not that the series is bad, but there are a few things that I'm really unsure how I feel about (which I won't touch on in this review because I don't want to spoil anything even remotely). It is a quick read, although it is around 500 pages, and I think it has to do with the way the author wrote - it's easy to follow along and the plot is engrossing. I will say, the plot is slow building up and sometimes not really exciting, but it is well worth the ending.

In the first book, I was indifferent about how I felt about Lilia, but I definitely felt like I liked her more in Fire with Fire. I felt like she went through some character growth from where she was in the first book, and I look forward to seeing how her character grows in the final book. Kat is still a character that I go between liking and not liking because of her personality and character, but I love that she's a character with flaws and she's still Kat in this book. Mary, although I didn't feel like her character changed, I slowly started to not like her as much and I can't really explain why. I also like some of the side characters like Reeve and Alex.

So I look forward to reading the final book in the series, and because this one didn't really improve from the last one, I'm not expecting that the final book will. I just hope that it leaves me satisfied after the ending, and because of a certain thing you find out at the end of this book, I am worried how the last book will end.

Review: Smell of Other People's Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

Smell of Other People's Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

In Alaska, 1970, being a teenager here isn’t like being a teenager anywhere else. Ruth has a secret that she can’t hide forever. Dora wonders if she can ever truly escape where she comes from, even when good luck strikes. Alyce is trying to reconcile her desire to dance, with the life she’s always known on her family’s fishing boat. Hank and his brothers decide it’s safer to run away than to stay home—until one of them ends up in terrible danger.

Four very different lives are about to become entangled.

Pages: 240

Format: E-Book

Published By: Wendy Lamb Books

Genre: YA - Historical Fiction

Rating:
✮✮

Review:
Smell of Other People's Houses was is one of my most disappointing reads of this year. I was somewhat hesitant when picking this book up because it's not usually the type of book that I am drawn to, but the high ratings convinced me to give this book a try. Smell of Other People's Houses is about four teenagers whose lives are tied together, although their stories are all different.

Ruth is a character that I have mixed feelings regarding. She was kind of annoying and boring at the beginning, and then something happens in her life that allows her some character growth, and although I liked her better at the end of the book, it wasn't enough to make up for how much I didn't like her at the beginning. I couldn't relate to her.

Dora was another character that I didn't like - and at no point in the book did my feelings regarding her change. She was annoying, rude, and to be honest, one of the worst characters that I have ever read. Her attitude throughout the book is frustrating, and she doesn't really grow - and I tried giving her leeway considering her circumstances but it was still hard to like her even a little. It was impossible to relate to her.

Alyce was by far my favorite character out of the book. I liked her friendly personality and kind spirit. I also liked getting to know her as the story progressed. Out of all four main characters, she was the only one that I was able to relate to.

Hank was the final character, and although, I generally liked his personality and character, I wasn't able to relate to him, and that was a little disappointing. I loved the relationship that he had with his brothers, although you get to see one relationship more fully throughout the novel.

All in all, it's not a book that I would recommend, and not one that I would ever read again. I just wasn't a fan of the book. I liked that all stories tied together, but the problem was that they were four distinct plots in a book that is barely over 200 pages. To me, it felt like you don't really get to know deep down who the characters are, and I think it also makes it hard for there to be a lot of action because there is a lot of explaining happening, which makes the book slow and a tad boring to get through. This book just wasn't for me, and if you do pick it up, I hope that you enjoy it much more than I did.

May Wrap-Up and June TBR

So I've decided I'm going to try something somewhat new, and that is a monthly wrap-up. I've done weekly wrap-ups in the past, but it never really worked out, so I'm going to try to start doing monthly ones, and see if I can keep up more with that. I will not be including any books I read for tours.

In the month of May, I read a total of 16 books.

The first book that I read this month was a nonfiction book about sharks, called Sharks: A 400 Million Year Journey. You can find my review here. I would recommend this book to people who love to learn about sharks. It's an interesting book about how sharks essentially came to be. 

Following that, I read 3 of the books that I was most looking forward to reading this month, that being Obsidio, Daughter of the Siren Queen, and Diviners. I did not review the book by Libba Bray, but you can find the two other reviews, respectively, here and here. I loved all three of these books, with Obsidio being my absolute favorite. 

I also read one book that I thought was ok, that I still plan on finishing the series for and that is Reignited, and I just really couldn't get into this story. I found it a little slow for my taste. You can read my short review here.

I also went on a little Anne of Green Gables spree-ish, well I've started the Anne of Green Gables spree anyway. I started this spree by reading a graphic novel, and then a set of 4 comic issues. I preferred the graphic novel over the comic issues because of the layout and there were a few issues with the quotes being with wrong individuals at times and it just confused me. I'm only including the cover of the first issue below. I look forward to reading (well listening to the audiobooks of) the full-length novels of Anne of Green Gables series, which I have started by finishing the first book in the series.

Along with Diviners, Reignited, and Anne of Green Gables, I also read Vilonia Beebe Takes Charge for the Scallywagathon Readathon two weeks ago. I thought that it was a cute MG book, and I am thankful for the author for sending me a copy of the book. You can read my short review here.

I also started the Burn for Burn trilogy by listening to the audiobook of the first book, which I enjoyed quite a lot. You can find my review of the book here. I'm looking forward to finishing this series within the coming months.

I also was able to complete two books that were both set in Alaska. One was set in modern times, Not If I Save You First, while the other was set in the ‘70s, Smell of Other People's Houses. I wasn't really a fan of either, but I definitely liked the modern set book than I did the book set in the '70s. You can find the review of Not If I Save You First here, but I haven't yet posted my review for Smell of Other People's Houses.

The final book that I finished in the month of May was the audiobook, One Was Lost, which I really enjoyed and would highly recommend listening to at night because I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much if I had listened to it during the day.

In the month of June, there are a few audiobooks that I want to complete, but I don't know if I will be reading any physical copies at this point in time because June is a weird month for me because of how busy I will be.

One book that I would like to finish because it has already been started is Fire with Fire, the second book in the Burn for Burn book. The other audiobooks that I would like to get to in this month are Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, Anne of Windy Poplars, and Anne's House of Dreams.

The only non-audiobook that I would like to finish in the month of June is I Am Still Alive, which is Kate Alice Marshall's debut novel, and is scheduled to be published July 24th of this year.